Children's Health Care Rights

Although the concept of human rights for all has §been gradually accepted worldwide, there §is still some controversy around the idea of rights §for children. The South African Constitution not §only recognises the fact that children are capable §of being bearers of human rights but emphasises also §their special position in society by granting them §specific rights. In this thesis the entitlements and §obligations attached to children s health service§rights are explored with a particular focus on the§extent to which these rights are respected in light§of consent laws. The uniqeness of the relationship§between consent laws and children s health rights §becomes more apparent when one investigates the §impact of legislative ages of consent on those §children who are below the age of consent. This §thesis will analyse the impact of consent §provisions on children and the use of ages of§consent with a focus on the new Children s Act. The§analysis aims to create awareness of the impact of§consent laws on children s health rights for those§responsible for protecting these rights through §legislation and others responsible for doing so in §any other capacity.